My first blog. Started on August 28, 2006, where I explored various topics related to my experiences as a disabled person with a visual and physical impairment with a focus on disability issues.
> This blog was officially archived in January 2014.

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Gordon's D-Zone Arcive (2006-2014)

Thursday, February 04, 2010

DAILY MAIL: Patient in a vegetative state 'talks to scientists

This is really great news and it should make those who have claimed people who do not appear to react to stiumulus as 'dead' to think again!

The man was among 23 patients a control group of healthy volunteers recruited for a three-year study by Medical Research Council scientists and colleagues from the University of Liege in Belgium.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure activity in two different brain regions registering motor and spatial responses while the patients imagined specific scenes.
The patient was in a permanent vegetative state (posed by model)

Closed world: The patient was in a permanent vegetative state (posed by model)

Magnetic fields and radio waves detected blood-flow surges in each area which 'lit up' the scans.

For the 'motor' task, patients were asked to imagine standing on a tennis court and swinging an arm to return balls from an instructor.

To activate the 'spatial' region, they had to imagine walking from room to room in their home.

In four patients, the scans detected activity in the appropriate brain region as they carried out the scientists' verbal instructions.

But the 29-year-old man, who had produced reliable responses, was singled out for an even more remarkable test, says the New England Journal of Medicine.

Told to use 'motor' or 'spatial' imagery as 'yes' and 'no' answers, he correctly answered the first five of six autobiographical questions.

He was asked 'is your father's name Alexander?' and correctly answered 'yes' by imagining the tennis scene. When he was asked 'is your father's name Thomas?' he answered 'no' by thinking about walking around the house.

When the sixth question was asked, virtually no activity was seen. Scientists believe the patient had fallen asleep or simply failed to hear the question.

Dr Owen said: 'We were astonished when we saw the results of the patient's scan.

'Not only did these scans tell us that the patient was not in a vegetative state, but, more importantly, for the first time in years it provided the patient with a way of communicating his thoughts to the outside world.'

He said fMRI scanning was an expensive tool but in future, computer devices might help patients to communicate whether they needed pain relief or would like to try new drugs.

He said: 'Just for patients to exercise some autonomy is a massive step forward.'

Dr Nicholas Schiff, a neuroscientist at the Weill Cornell College in New York, said the work 'changes everything'. He said: 'These findings have extremely broad implications for concerns about the accurate assessment of patients in custodial care situations.'

Chris Frith, Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology, University College London, said: 'It is difficult to imagine a worse experience than to be a functioning mind trapped in a body over which you have absolutely no control.

'We have the distinct possibility that, in the future, we will be able to detect cases of other patients who are conscious and what's more, we will be able to communicate with them.'

There are normally fewer than 100 patients in the UK in a permanent vegetative state (PVS) at any time. PVS is diagnosed in patients who have been in a coma for three years without being able to communicate or have any understanding of what is being said.

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About Me

I love blogging for the very same reason I love writing. It gives me the opportunity to express myself and my ideas to others. Yet, the great thing about blogs are their potential to reach out to people across the world. Blogging is also a means where I can explore thoughts and ideas, express my creativity and better examine who I am. As a disabled person, blogs are also tool to raise awareness about how society excludes us as disabled people through its failure to take us into account. Besides disability activism, I also enjoy creative writing and to read about a wide range of topics, ranging from science to philosophy which I also explore in my blogs..
I dream of a world that includes everyone, irrespective of our differences. A world where people have true equal rights and opportunities. A world where everyone is given the means to succeed and attain his/her full potential.